I've been given 3 bags of horse manure for my allotment. It looks a little fresh to me (not that I'm an expert seeing as I've never inspected horse poo before!) so is it OK to use? I know well rotted is the preference. I was hoping to put some in a trough then put some broad beans in to overwinter but is this a good idea with fresher manure?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I'm a brand new allotmenter so all advice is very welcome!

I'm not the best person to be advising - I hope one of the others will answer this too, but mature manure will be a dry and crumbly texture and will smell either not at all or quite sweet. It's fine.

I'm not completely sure, but think if you had partially rotted manure, or warm soil in a sunny spot, you could put the manure in a trench with a layer of soil over to stop burning and then plant your beans. I have heard of folk putting unrotted veg in a trench and planting peas & beans, but guess that's not as nitrogen-rich as manure.

Broad beans belong to the legume family where nitrogen fixing bacteria grow on the roots where the plants can take it up. Also, perhaps not advisable to give a high nitrogen feed in the early stages of growth in late summer / autumn as you don't want the plants to grow quickly and be all sappy - these plants will not withstand the rigours of winter thrown at them, especially strong wind and then other problems like Chocolate Spot can get a grip. In addition, during the coldest part of winter, broad beans like all plants will stop growing ... so my advice is probably not to bother for broad beans but better to dig into the bed where you want to grow potatoes or leafy greens like cabbage next season.